Our Hearts, Our Connection
by Irisu-Zerone
Summary: After losing their parents in an accident, Minato and Hamuko Arisato are left alone. When they move back to their old hometown in the countryside of Yasoinaba, what awaits them? P3xP4 AU with no Personas or S-links. Rating may Change.
1. Chapter 1: To a New Life

Summary: After losing their parents in an accident, Minato and Hamuko Arisato are left alone. When they move back to their old hometown in the countryside of Yasoinaba, what awaits them? P3xP4 AU with no personas and S-links.

Ps: The story is told from Minato's perspective mostly.

WARNING: Some characters will not be the same age as canon.

Chapter 1: To a New Life

It came out of nowhere.

Even till this day, the deaths of our parents were unknown to us. It was told to us they had died in a three way car accident on the moonlight bridge. Some crazy taxi driver went at max speed of course and then…it happened.

Life was never easy for our family, and that situation only made it worse.

Mom and Dad never graduated from High School, so it was pretty hard for them to get a job. For a long while, I had to be the one to work, taking odd jobs in a café, a receptionist at the movies and lots of other stuff too. Our parents eventually found decent paying jobs for themselves. They were ecstatic. We earned a lot more after that. Yet it wasn't enough to get everything paid and sorted out for.

Schooling.

Bills.

Food.

Hamuko's medical treatment.

You see, my sister wasn't very fortunate either. She was born with a weak body and was really, really frail. I remember this one time when we were kids, we were playing when she suddenly fainted. Mom and Dad freaked the hell out and rushed her to the hospital. My parents were shaken, but kept telling each other not to cry.

I couldn't help it.

I bawled my heart out. I loved my sister, and it was a huge shock to me as well.

Hamuko was too weak to go to school, but we felt she still needed the education. I studied hard at school and whenever I came back, taught her whatever I learned. The only thing we feared for her was her social skills. She got much better over the years, maybe a high fever now and then, but just when we she started attending school normally.

Mom and Dad died.

I can recall so clearly, that day of the funeral. I had to hold onto to Hamuko tight. She was crying so much. I took one long look at my parents grave that day.

_I'll take care of her, Mom, Dad. I'll protect her, just leave it to me. _

But I had no idea that, in that span of some days together, we would be tested in ways that we would never imagine.

* * *

><p>"….."<p>

I am so sleepy…

"…nato…."

Damn...all that packing really took a lot out of me.

"Mi…to…."

Damn it. I just want to-

"MINATO!"

The sudden shout shook me hard as I jolted awake and banged headfirst into a girl I knew all too well. She had her brunette hair tied back in a bun shaped fashion. Her crimson eyes gazed into me with slight concern and annoyance. In her mouth was a cherry lollipop which she immediately pulled out.

This was my sister, Hamuko.

"Hmm…? Are we there yet sis?" I mumbled as I rubbed my eyes. As you can tell, I'm that kind of guy who loves to sleep a lot. Don't get me wrong, I have my fair share of exercise to keep myself up and going, but sleep is where I can think of nothing but rest.

But of course, Hamuko objects to me sleeping so much.

"Soon. Knowing you, if I let you sleep for five more minutes you would never wake up," she rolled her eyes and continued to fiddle with the lace of her skirt, "Putting that aside, are you sure we packed up everything we needed?"

"Yes Hamuko, I'm sure. There wasn't a lot of stuff to move anyway, only a few things namely: our laptops, clothing, mp3's and some toiletries."

I know what it looks like, I'm being slave driven by a woman, but its not as bad as you perceive it to be. My sister is just a little paranoid about these things sometimes, so its natural for me to seem "bossed" around by her by a lot of people.

In reality, we're really close I assure you.

There's only this one thing which I'm really concerned about…

As she gazed back out of the window, the scenery quickly changing to one filled with more grass than high rise buildings, her crimson orbs seemed to be missing something. Or more like, it looked hollow. I sighed internally as I leaned back into my seat. After all these years, no matter how you look at it or how you try and talk to her, she still, really, misses Mom and Dad.

"Hey, Minato?" Hamuko suddenly spoke up, "how do you think we'll fare through all of this. I mean, I doubt any of our friends would actually remember who or how we actually even look like."

Oh wow…

I knew she never was the most cheerful person around but…that somehow sounded really dark and emo-like coming from her. Looks like its time for big brother to step in again. Getting up from my seat across her, I moved myself onto the two-seater in which she sat on and gave her a pat on the back, "Oh come on now. I doubt that nobody would NOT remember us. I mean, I got a text from Uncle Dojima saying that he couldn't wait to see us."

At the sound of Uncle Dojima, I saw Hamuko perk up a little. To her, seeing Uncle Dojima would mean seeing little Nanako again. Their father's fellow detective associate had a cute daughter which they often played with when she was still a baby. Minato knew immediately when he saw the look on her face, Hamuko couldn't wait to play with her again.

*Attention all passengers, the train has now reached Yasoinaba. For those who wish to take the train back to Tatsumi Port Island, please drop off and switch to the next train.*

"Well, our stop!" Hamuko, filled with sudden energy grabbed my hand and pulled me up, "Come on, Minato!"

Strange, you were almost lifeless a few moments ago…

With a small smile appearing on my lips, I let her tug me along as we got off the train.

After comparing the address we were given and the map we took at the train station, the two of us finally managed to figure out a way to get to our new home. First obvious thing we noticed was that it was pretty darn far from the station, walking would take forever!

Next obvious (and good) thing we noticed.

A bicycle shop on the map.

I'm not kidding you! We walked for a few minutes when we noticed a bike rental shop. Apparently, there was this teenager with a yellow jacket and extremely large headphones talking to the store's manager about some repairs. I made a quick note: Headphones with music blasting plus cycling equals crash…

Hmm, that's just my guess at least.

The boy turned to us, surprise evident on his face, "Hmm, I'm pretty sure I've never seen you two from around here before. Did you just move here from the city?"

"You can tell?" I'm surprised Hamuko was the one to pop back her own question.

"Well, no duh," the guy chuckled slightly, "I'm from the city too, I only moved here a few months back. It's a lot less pollution compared to the city, but other than that its pretty quiet around here. Nothing much to do and stuff…"

"Oh wait what am I saying! I'm Yosuke Hanamura," the guy introduced himself.

"Hey Yosuke," Hamuko greeted back cheerily, "Minato and Hamuko Arisato. Hey, maybe you can show us around town sometime."

"Sure, but I do know someone much better for the job. Still, I'll see you around!"

Hopping onto his bike, Yosuke sped off into the distance. That bike was really fast, I must say. I couldn't even see him from here, and its only been a few seconds…

*Fsshh….*

"Hey Minato?" Hamuko tugged my sleeve, "that sounded like a crash, do you think we should check it out?"

"Nah, probably some birds," I replied as I handed over some rental fees to the bike shop owner. Then, patting on the backseat of the bicycle, I gestured with my finger, "Get on, looks like we'll be cycling to our new home!"

If there's one thing I really thank God for, its Hamuko's map reading and memory skills. Honestly I'm hopeless without it. I don't remember how many times, after I set off, she told me to take a proper turn to the right and to the left…

"No, Minato, your OTHER left you dummy!"

"Well you could have said so!"

I didn't really have time to turn back, so she told me to take a longer route. As much as we both don't want to admit, this was actually pretty fun for the two of us. When we were about six, we used to cycle around like this a lot. I remember, so clearly, I would have Hamuko in the back seat like now and we would always race against THAT guy…

"Hey, Hamuko, I wonder if that guy came back to visit this place? You know, Uncle Dojima's Ne-

"WHOA HEY, MINATO! WATCH IT!"

Huh…what in blazes?

*CRASH*

The impact was quick enough to send me out of my thoughts, and both of us off the bike. One moment I heard Hamuko screaming at us both, the next we were on the ground, covered in bruises and the bike to the side of us. No one was seriously injured, surprisingly.

"Minato, you idi-"

"Urgh…" came a grunt from whoever crashed into us. After helping Hamuko to get up, we moved onto the other unfortunate person who collided into us.

"Hey," Hamuko suddenly put on the sweet, innocent voice that she suddenly adopted when she came here and stretched her hand out, "Hey, are you alright? Need a hand?"

I'm dead serious here, when did she get so…sociable?

"Ah, its alright, I think I can get up…Wait, are you…?"

As soon as the boy stood up, we almost fell back in shock. I recognised this boy anywhere! That tall and lean figure he always had even as a small boy. That strangely obvious greying bowl-cut that fit nicely into his round head. Well, of course, those glasses were new but…Hamuko and I definitely knew him. He was our childhood friend, the one that always beat me and Hamuko in a bike race, the one that always did well in grades AND sports even as a kid. Hell I'd say he's a living walking Gary Stu…

He seemed just as surprised to see us as well.

"Well, well Minato, not the best way to meet. It's been awhile!"

We couldn't resist slapping each other on the back. Even Hamuko looked genuinely pleased to see him.

"Yeah. Long time no see, Yu Narukami."

* * *

><p>Well, well, what's up with this you may ask?<p>

I Like AU's, I really do, I thought I'd think up one for the heck of it. Something like this hit me after watching a certain anime, guess which one, dudes.

Short chappie, but next ones will be longer, hopefully. I'm not usually one to rush.

Still, read and review it. I'd like to improve!


	2. Chapter 2: Drama Already!

Hey, this got better reception than I thought. Sorry for the wait though.

WARNING: Yu Narukami talks too much here.

Chapter 2: Drama already?

We couldn't believe it.

Back when we were just little children, there was a boy around our age who lived across the street for awhile. He always played with us whenever he got the chance since his parents always moved back in and back out of the countryside. Even as a kid girls swooned over him (not that he ever noticed).

Then one day, he left town and went to the big city, this time for much longer. We tried to contact him but it never reached.

But now, he's here.

"Well, well Minato, not the best way to meet. It's been awhile!"

"Yeah, good to see you, Yu Narukami."

The two of us gave a bro hug and laughed. I wonder, how long has it been since we last laughed and did idiotic things together?

"Hey you two!" Hamuko called, obviously annoyed, "are you forgetting I'm here as well? Especially you, Yu! Is that how you greet a girl when you haven't seen her in so long?"

What the hell is Hamuko saying…?

"Haha…of course I didn't forget," he let go of me and nodded towards her, "the two of you have really grown you know? I'm surprised Minato doesn't have a girlfriend yet!"

"And of course, Hamuko, you've gotten really pretty as well."

Argh…there are something's that will never ever change though. Yu's bad choice of words in the wrong situation is one thing that ALWAYS stays the same. I looked over at Hamuko, whose face started turning red and getting nervous fits.

"Yu!" I slapped him on the back, "can't you pick your words more wisely? Look, you've put my sister in a spot!"

"Huh?" the grey haired teenager looked at me, obviously puzzled, "did I say anything wrong? I mean she's really…"

Hamuko had to choose that moment to lose it and hit ME on the back too, something about two of us being idiots.

I wanted to try to hike up some nice, old conversation with Yu, but I guess he doesn't really want to talk about how he keeps moving and moving. He just said how his parents had to move overseas for some big business trip.

"That's how I ended up here I guess," he shrugged as we stopped in front of some inn, "so, how did you guys land up here. I haven't been keeping contact and all. How's auntie and uncle?"

At the mention of our parents, Hamuko suddenly shut up. Dang it, Narukami, guess he really doesn't know anything huh?

He blinked, unsure of what was going on, "What's wrong? Why does Hamuko look so sad…wait…what!"

It took two seconds for Yu to put two and two together. I let out a slight cough, patting Hamuko on the back so she wouldn't cry.

"It's alright…" I reassured, both Yu and my sister, "just please, don't bring that up again."

"Right…right. I'm sorry," he scratched the back of his head, seemingly upset as well, "Anyway, let's not be so gloomy shall we? If you're gonna be living around here, better introduce you to some of the folks I got to know."

"Or any you might have already forgot anyway, since we were just kids."

Forgot? I'm pretty sure I didn't forget anyone from this sleepy old town. Sure, my memory might be a little bad, but I only haven't been back for…

Damn it, Yu's got a great point there.

Walking up to the inn, Yu knocked on the front door and called out to whoever was inside there, "Hey, it's me. You can open up."

"Narukami?"

It didn't take long for whoever was on the other side of the door to answer us. Yu stepped aside to give us a view of a girl, couldn't be older than us, wearing a pink kimono which combined with her long, raven coloured hair which made her seem even more out of place.

"She's like a sengoku era princess," Hamuko whispered to me, after which I nudged her to keep quiet, "That was a compliment, Minato!"

"Oh my," the girl spoke with a rather elegant tone, "guests at this time? I'm pretty sure there were no other reservations for today."

Yu laughed at that, "These guys aren't really guests, I'm kind of showing them around town since they just moved and I thought 'hey, maybe our dear Yuki-Chan's inn might interest them'. Sorry if I barged in without any warning though."

"And for the last time, just call me Yu…"

The girl frowned a little at his comment for some reason, "Don't say that, it's just another old inn, is all." Turning to us, she bowed low, "You must be Narukami's friends he talked so much about. My name is Yukiko Amagi."

"Uh hi…we're…"

"Good to meet you princess," Hamuko suddenly shoved my head down, "Hamuko and Minato Arisato at your every disposal!"

What the hell is Hamuko doing!

"Hey…what the hell?"

"Isn't it obvious?" she whispered, our heads still bowed, "look at her! She's obviously some high class heir of some giant company. She might go 'of with your heads' at any moment if you piss her off!"

"I'm pretty sure she isn't the queen of hearts, sister…"

"Um…" Yukiko seemed a bit…jarred by our (mostly Hamuko's) reactions, "I think there is a misunderstanding here…"

"Yuki-chan here's no princess, guys," Yu chuckled, "her family owns this in. This kimono is just like her uniform, no need to freak out over anything."

Hamuko looked up, glancing at Yu, then to Yukiko, and back to him again like she couldn't believe she was a normal person. Damn, maybe I let her watch too much anime as a kid…

"Wha…whatever!" she huffed, then suddenly sticking out her finger at Yu, "then how about this, why are you and your 'Yuki-Chan' so close hmm?"

"Huh..? We're just…"

"Of course," Yu placed his hand around Yukiko's shoulder, "we're pretty good friends that's all, right Yukiko?"

He had no idea how nervous he made the inn keepers daughter feel, I swear. Plus it did not help that he pulled her closer when he did that too.

* * *

><p>Yu just justified himself most oblivious person, even if he didn't notice it, enough said.<p>

"What?" he kept asking as he led us, "what did I do wrong? Hey Minato, don't go silent on me buddy." Hamuko merely snorted at the totally clueless comment while I simply tried not to laugh.

"Oh by the way, did you guys happen meet a Yosuke Hanamura along the way?"

We nodded slowly and Hamuko spoke up, "I think he crashed into the bushes or something after he sped off on his bike."

"He's a good guy. Sometimes well…he gets a little annoying," Yu mentioned, "the bike crashing thing is normal, so don't worry about it."

…

What? He actually makes it sound like its nothing to be worried about. I'm really starting to wonder whether this guy has common sense. A dude crashing into bushes constantly cannot be good for his health. I mean, it COULD be a hobby for all we know.

"Well, looks pretty peaceful enough for us," I commented as we strolled past a park, "I doubt there even is a need for something such as a police centre."

"Actually," Yu stopped for a moment, "there is a police centre here, but there's always a second factor here that keeps gangsters at a minimum anyway."

Sounds cool to me. Wonder what it was, a secret force like CIA or FBI? Naw, can't be. They don't have those like that in Asia, not any I know of anyway.

"BLOODY PUNKS!"

Ok, what in the world was that?

"Oh, another fight?" Yu talked to no one in particular, "Hey Minato, come on, I gotta introduce you to somebody!" The three of us ran over to the sound of swear words and punch sounds. Yu led us into the middle of some little shopping district.

The scene was like something out of a gangster movie. There was one dude in the middle, with beach blonde hair and a singlet with a skull shaped art fighting against a small group of hooligans. He seemed to have no trouble taking them down one by one, but he looked like he was going to get exhausted.

"Kanji!" Yu dashed forward as Hamuko and I followed after him. Suddenly, without warning, he rammed himself at two of the hooligans which surrounded the Kanji guy.

"Senpai?" Kanji looked surprised, "what are you doing here?"

"Showing our new friends around town," Yu hit another thug away and turned back to us, "you guys should really stay back, unless you wanna help. Though I dare say Kanji is good enough on solo."

"Bastard!" one of the bald headed thugs looked up, "surround them!"

Soon, not just Yu and Kanji, but Hamuko and I were surrounded but various more unruly looking men. Slowly, the four of us stepped back as the circle closed in on us.

"Mi-Minato?" Hamuko gripped my shirt tightly, "I'm scared."

"Looks like you have no choice now, new dude," Kanji huffed, "get into a new town and you see a fight, must suck melons."

"Oh I'm sure Minato is capable of taking on a few of these guys," Yu smirked as he cracked his fist, "so, wanna relive the old times?"

I think beating up a bunch of bullies back in grade school didn't really account for much, but damn, that was some fast personality change Yu has there. Was he always like this?

On the side note, I do know my fighting skills are half decent.

"Hey," the same punk who rounded up his men walked out, "you got a real cutie there. Maybe if ya give her to us, we might spare ya losers." He reached, trying to grab Hamuko. I could feel her grip on my shirt tighten.

Ok, that was it.

*BAM*

Swinging my left fist, I collided it with his left jaw, causing Yu to snicker a little, "Nice shot."

"Urgh…tards! MAUL'EM!"

Everything broke out all at once.

Three guys rushed Kanji, one of them getting grabbed by the blondes giant arms and thrown at the other two. Yu and I didn't have it that easy though. The first one came at me. Sidestepping, I tripped him and let Yu finish him off.

Two more chose that moment to attack me. The first one hooked me in the shoulders while the other pulled out a knife.

"Minato!"

It was, much to my surprise, Hamuko who from the back, raised her foot and gave the guy a "critical hit" as he fell to the ground, clutching his lower areas.

Owned.

With the guy who held me captive stunned at the event that took place, I raised one leg to give MY own critical hit and kneed him in the stomach and sent him crumpling. I saw another dude flying past me, probably Kanji's throws again.

Things are looking good…

"HOLD YER HORSES, ASSHOLES!"

The loud voice halted everyone's movements. What I saw truly horrified me. Yu, under some afro cut dude's foot, was held at gunpoint.

"Sorry, got caught," Yu muttered in a careless tone, "totally didn't see it coming."

"Senpai!" Kanji tried to run forward, but afro pressed the gun closer to his head, "Don't move, Tatsumi. You might be as big as a bull, but one wrong move here, and your precious senpai gets his brains blown out."

"Shit…"

The remaining gang members got into a circle again, trapping us and leaving us with nowhere to run.

"Good," Afro gave a toothy grin, "now, hand over the chick or…"

"Or what, dipshits?"

The sudden scream of one of the gangsters broke the tension. Out of nowhere, a large hole where five men were supposed to stand were replaced by one guy walking towards us. He wore a humongous trench coat and had a beanie covering his head. One of his hands was in his pocket while the other was left hanging.

"Screwed…" I saw Yu smirk.

The beanie clad guy walked over to Afro, "Making shit here again, asshole? Why don't you and your buddies fuck the hell off?"

"Watch it Aragaki!" Afro spat and raised the gun, "look closely. One move, and you die, bitch."

"Oh really?"

The dude called Aragaki took his hand out of his pockets and spread it out wide, "Then why don't you make the first shot?"

Afro wasted no time, swinging the gun up and pointing it to his face. However, as the gun reached the new dude's forehead, it started shaking.

"What's wrong?" Aragaki taunted, "can't pull the trigger?"

"Shut up!" Afro stuttered.

"Wet your pants already? Shaking in your boots? Oh wait I know!" he sneered back, "how about not even having any bullets at all, you amateur hooligan?"

Taking that his own cue, Aragaki thrust out both hands and grabbed the guy by his jacket. Slowly, he moved closer to Afro's ear.

"Adios, asshole."

*WHAM*

Lifting his head, Aragaki freaking HEADBUTTED Afro. The impact was so damn powerful, Afro FLEW and hit the metal fencing.

Of course his men chose that time to back off and run.

"Wait, don't run…"

Aragaki cut him off and raised him with one hand, "Get it bitch? This here is everyone's town. I'll count to three. If you don't fuck your little ass off by then, I'll rip that head and put it through. Sound good?"

"Big talk Ara-ACK!"

"Wanna try?"

Afro gulped and, with one last squeak, begged Aragaki to let go as he ran off with the remainder of his men. Yu looked particularly happy to see him, "Hey man, thanks for helping us out. Even with a gun you still made him leak his pants."

"Are you freaking stupid, dumbass?" he knocked Yu hard on the head, "those guys were amateurs through and through, that gun was just to threaten you so you could hand over the chick as a fuck buddy. Plus, what's with you getting involved in all of this, Narukami?"

"Just helping out a kohai."

"Like an idiot, sure you are."

"Hey!" Kanji stormed over to the taller badass and yelled at him, "Senpai helped me out of his own accord, back the hell down. Not like we needed your help!"

"Tatsumi," he glared down at the shorter boy, "go home, you're not meant to be with this kind of crowd. And Narukami? Get your new friends out of this nonsense now and bring'em home."

With that, the beanie clad dude walked of in the other direction. Kanji looked relatively pissed at him, while Hamuko just seemed to stare of in the direction where he went off…

Wait, what?

"Hamuko," I shook her a little, "hey, you alright? Not hurt anywhere are you?"

"You should learn to be that badass, Yu, Minato," she suddenly spoke up, "that way you can fight single handily, like uh…."

"Kanji Tatsumi," Yu introduced the bigger boy to us, "he doesn't look like it, but he's really younger than me by a year."

"Yo, you're senpai's friends then? Then glad to know you're not like those assholes."

We exchanged greetings, and you'd be surprised what this giant dude does in his free time. He knits. Honestly, that was pretty surprising. Some guy with hands as big and strong as those are usually those wannabe engineers or something.

Though I think Kanji looked a little offended when we reacted at first, heh heh…

"Anyways who was that guy," Hamuko puffed her cheeks a little, "he might've been uber cool, but what he said about me was just mean!"

"Oh…you mean Shinjiro Aragaki?" Yu scratched his chin, "no one really knows anything about him. He's a third year, but he rarely attends school, so we don't see much of him. Kanji and him are usually the main reasons why gangsters have decreased in number."

So why were there like a whole mob again just now?

And damn, looks like its getting dark already. Hamuko shot me a knowing glance. Yeah, guess I wasn't the only worn out one here.

"Oh what's with you all, tired from the train trip? Come on guys, let's move on! Lots more things I have to show you guys."

"Uh…" Hamuko and I tried to tell him what time it was already, "I think we're…"

"Still full of energy?" he grinned widely as he tugged my sleeve, "come on then, I gotta bring you to the weapon shop. It's way cool!"

Yeah, Narukami's a dolt.

* * *

><p>Sorry for the long wait, guys.<p>

Yeah, I made Yu a really blur and oblivious guy, much like someone I know from RL. He looks like he is anyway.

R&R 0w0


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